Valley County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Valley County: 12.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the county boundary (or inside the county).
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by NE Univ of NE Lincoln (1).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Mar 13, 2019Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Excessive rainfall, blizzard conditions, and high winds occurred on this Tuesday night, Wednesday and Thursday, and they were followed by extensive and significant flooding that lasted for days afterward. The seeds of the disastrous flooding were planted in the weeks leading up to this event. The factors that came together made this a worst case scenario. February through early March was bitterly cold and snowy due to a blocking ridge between Alaska and Hawaii and the downstream trough along the West Coast of the United States. The 32-day stretch from February 4th through March 7th was the third coldest on record, after 1936 and 1960. By itself, February was the coldest month in…

2. Mar 13, 2019Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Excessive rainfall, blizzard conditions, and high winds occurred on this Tuesday night, Wednesday and Thursday, and they were followed by extensive and significant flooding that lasted for days afterward. The seeds of the disastrous flooding were planted in the weeks leading up to this event. The factors that came together made this a worst case scenario. February through early March was bitterly cold and snowy due to a blocking ridge between Alaska and Hawaii and the downstream trough along the West Coast of the United States. The 32-day stretch from February 4th through March 7th was the third coldest on record, after 1936 and 1960. By itself, February was the coldest month in…

3. May 12, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind gusts of 80 to 90 MPH were reported along and near this path. Peak measured wind gusts include: 89 MPH, by a mesonet station located eight miles west-southwest of Ord; 82 MPH, by a mesonet station located four miles west-southwest of Ord; 75 MPH, by a Nebraska Mesonet station located two miles northwest of Ord; 73 MPH, by a mesonet station located six miles southwest of Ord. Widespread damage was reported in and around Arcadia by a NWS Cooperative Observer, who estimated wind speeds to be 80 to 90 MPH with near-zero visibility due to blowing dirt. Numerous trees were uprooted or torn apart, and many buildings and grains bins were damaged or destroyed. Numerous pivots were…

4. Jun 3, 1999Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Late in the evening of June 3rd, a severe thunderstorm produced a large tornado across northwest Valley county. The thunderstorm entered the western part of the county around 11 pm. Shortly thereafter, the tornado touched down 12 miles west of Ord and snaked its way northeast before lifting after midnight about 7 miles north of Ord. This F3 tornado had a damage path almost one-half mile wide at one point. It completely destroyed two farmsteads and damaged two others along its path. At the two destroyed farmsteads, residents took shelter in the basement upon warning. The tornado tossed cars and farm equipment up to 300 feet, strewn irrigation pipe across the countryside and killed…

5. Jul 9, 2014Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail ranged in size from quarters to golf balls.

6. Dec 25, 2016High Wind, Valley$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The highest wind gust of 64 mph was measured at 8:03 p.m. by the ASOS at the Ord Airport. The ASOS also recorded a gust of 62 mph at 7:53 p.m. Strong sustained winds around 40 MPH or higher continued for a few hours across the area.

7. May 30, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damage from wind gusts near and in excess of 80 MPH caused considerable damage to area grain bins and outbuildings, and also overturned pivots. At the Ord Airport, the roof was peeled off of one of the hangars, and one side of the building was ripped away.

8. Jul 9, 2014Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail up to the size of ping pong balls caused extensive crop damage in the area.

9. Jul 9, 2014Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail ranged in size from quarters to ping pong balls. Crop damage was reported in the area.

10. Jun 12, 2010Flash Flood$1.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Multiple rounds of severe thunderstorms, mainly producing damaging winds and torrential rainfall, made for a very active Friday evening and early Saturday morning across much of South Central Nebraska. The initial wave of severe storms developed during the mid to late evening hours, mainly west of Highway 183 in the vicinity of a quasi-stationary surface front draped from Northwest Kansas to East Central Nebraska. With surface dewpoints pushing the low 70s in many areas, the airmass was quite unstable as storms organized, with MLCAPE values into the 3000-4000 J/kg range. A few of these initial storms were supercells, with one producing a brief EF0 tornado shortly after nightfall…

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

114°FJul 11, 1954

All-time low

−34°FJan 27, 1963

Warmest night

79°FJun 30, 1963

Coldest day

−10°F3 times, most recently Dec 21, 1990

Wettest day

5.80 inAug 23, 1983

Snowiest day

16.4 inJan 19, 2023

Hottest year

2012mean 52.2°F

Coldest year

1950mean 45.1°F

Wettest year

200736.69 in

Driest year

195510.45 in

Snowiest season

67.5 in1983-84

Station Burwell 2WSW (USC00251345), 2,255 ft elevation, 17.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 90.7% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

Neighbouring counties

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USC00251345.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.